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Actually, it almost has become more of a weekly occurrence to hear the "Fire Gilbride and Fewell" rants from the Giants fans everywhere, but Tom Coughlin sure isn't listening.

Despite starting 0-5 to the regular season, the Giants head coach told the media in a press conference on Monday that he won't fire either coordinator before the team takes on the Chicago Bears. Conor Orr of the Newark-Star Ledger was the one who prompted the question to the 67-year-old head coach and got the simplest of answers to it.

"No."

While a change at either coordinator position might be warranted, it would make sense for the team to hang onto both Gilbride and Fewell due to the short week, as the Giants have to quickly turn around from their 36-21 defeat against the Philadelphia Eagles, get on a plane and head to the Windy City to take on the 3-2 Chicago Bears on Thursday night.

However, if the Giants fall to the Bears and go to 0-6; the team has more than a week before their next game to make coaching changes if the organization feels like they need to make some kind of change and if it ends up being someone like Gilbride or Fewell, or even both.

But the cold reality is that both Gilbride and Fewell are considered "Coughlin guys" as assistant coaches and ones that he's had on his coaching staff for years and in different organizations, so the likeliness of Coughlin all of a sudden deciding to fire either coach will likely not happen.

But even with Coughlin's vote of confidence in his coordinators, that simply doesn't mean the Giants fans everywhere won't stop with the demands for both guys to be sent packing as soon as possible until it actually does happen.

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As much as I am an advocate for wholesale coaching changes, including mid-season purges, there is simply no way this happens. Coughlin is NEVER going to fire Gilbride or Fewel. Mara could, but only Mara. And what is the point of firing the coordinators if you don’t fire the HC? I know they did it in ’06 when Huffnagel was canned Week 14 and Gilbride took over as OC, and then Lewis was escorted off the premises after the Eagle playoff loss, but that was done with a gun to Tom’s head; that was done with the threat that ’07 was it it for TC if….; and then the if occurred and now they look at Tom as having the answers. While this season is worse than the 2003 season that got Jim Fassell fired, there is simply no way any changes are made mid-season Moreover, I still believe that Tom will not want to go out this way and will thus fight for a contract extension. His tenure in Jacksonville followed a similar arc of early success followed by an apparent tuning out by the players and lackluster results (see below)

1995 4 12

1996 9 7

1997 11 5

1998 11 5

1999 14 2

2000 7 9

2001 6 10

2002 6 10

For years DEMO and I have debated the relative merits and demerits of Tom as a coach. One argument DEMO often trots out is a variant of “you could do worse”. I heard Mike Francesca making this argument yesterday as he was brow-beating his callers who were arguing for a coaching dismissal. “Who would you hire” he screamed ( a stupid question to ask a fan; how is a fan to know?) “The next guy might be worse” he bloviated. True! But he might be better!! But it is this latter argument that scares me the most. Given how conservative the organization is, they could easily talk themselves into believing that the next guy won’t likely do as well as Tom has done so no change CAN be made. I hate that type of managing by fear of the unknown, but it could easily be our fate.

Whether that transpires or not, the one thing we can count on is that no changes will be made mid-season.

Agreed … and besides, it’s not as simple as firing the coords. There’s several problems, and they have to be addressed in a calm, rational, unhurried fashion.

One thought … bring Spags back as DC. He’s some sort of special assistant with the Ravens. DC is a promotion, so there’s no compensation. Yes yes … he bombed as a head coach … and was a distracted mess when he was job hunting. I’m still pi$$ed at him over that. But he knew the NFC East, and his style matched our personnel and was what we used to call ‘Giants football’.

I’m not a Fewell hater by the way … but I do hate his passive schemes.

I read this and the first thing I hear in my head is Billy Joel Goodnight Saigon. “And we will allllll Gooo down together”…. The rumors have been around for a few years that Bill cower wants the giants job. How about Brian Billick?? Might be too cold for him…but John Gruden. The giants usually have a high profile head coach and someone who has a reputation. I would expect the same after TC “retires”

But … mark my words … keeping TC and replacing a lot of the assistants is also a strong possibility. Tom is family. And they may think he’d be a source of stability inside the storm. They could be right.

at 68 with a 2 year contract extension, which is the only way Tom will be retained, I can’t see them forcing him to hire new coordinators Tom appears to turn every decision over to these guys and he manages the overall product How do you ask an old goat to work with youngsters he doesn’t know or trust? if he were to fire Gilbride at Mara’s insistence, who would he bring in? Dick Jauron? If Tom were left to hiring the new coordinators, wouldn’t he hire his own guys; some other old friend from his Jacksonville days?

I just can’t see keeping Tom but neutering him by forcing new hires that either he makes subject to Mara/Reese’s approval, or that Reese makes.

“All I know is that we’ve been in the playoffs one time in the last four years and that’s really not acceptable for us,” Reese told ESPNNewYork.com. ”That’s not our standards. That’s not what we shoot for. We want to put everybody on notice, myself, everybody is on notice that that’s not our standard.” Reese

and what is with bringing back Scott? I was all for giving the kid a shot, but wow! they were going to cut him before Andre Brown went down; they released him after giving him 50% of the snaps against KC; now they bring him back to do what? be the number 3? start? what is up with Cox? To my eyes, Cox was the only offensive player who flashed in preseason of course it was against scrubs, but why aren’t they giving this kid a shot he can’t be worse than Jacobs or Scott (and based on production to date, Wilson)

the personnel decisions being made this season make both Coughlin and Reese look like they know not that which they do

maybe you should have referred to Wilson it is only 2 yerars in but so far he has more fumbles than TDs, has been injured, has shown great inconsistency in blocking, and has yet to demonstrate the ability to get yards on his own if he was a third round pick people would already be writing him off draft status is all he has right now and he may not play again until after the bye, if then

Jim looks like you and I are the only ones who have truly embraced that fact that not only will TC be the coach next year, but probably the current assistants as well. Not that I agree, just being realistic here.

We know this season is lost and will be the worst since 2003 I would be very disappointed if we don’t make significant changes. Minimum Gilbride is gone. Maybe even Fewel. I just don’t think you can get rid of those guys and not get rid of the coach. We have been down this road with coordinators getting booted and a reset button is hit. I’m not hoping TC gets canned because it would be a shame. However, like most players, you don’t get to ride off into the sunset. He had his chance to do that in 2011. I think he will go out like Landry, Knoll, Shula. It would be hard to give him an extension if we can muster a 4-12 season after last years collapse. It’s time to give Reese a chance to get “his” coach in there